Sound-record.



P.- W. FULLER.

SOUND RECORD. urmouxon mum I012, 190;.

Patented Sept 21, 1909.

Hue mfoi Q Pergw 'aller,

PERCY W; FULLER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

sounn-macoan.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 21, 1909.

Application filed November 2, 1908. Serial No. 460,577.

' To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, PERCY W. FULLER, a citizen of the United States, residin at Boston, county of Suffolk, and State Massachusetts, have invented an Tm rovement in Sound-Records, of which the ollowing description, in connection with the accompanyin a body by corded, and

ing-drawing, on the drawing representing like parts.

There are at present two well-known ways of making permanent records of sounds. One is by making an impression or groove means of a stylus which is at-. tached to or actuated by a diaphragm that is set in vibration by the sounds to be rethe other is by locally magnetizmg successive points of a body by passing said body across the poles of a magnet in which the magnetic flux is varied in accordance with the sound vibrations to be recorded. I

The first method. above referred to of recordlng sounds produces a sound recordsuch as is made by a phonograph or graphophone, and which consists of a body having a groove or impression representin the sound vibrations; and the second met od above referred to produces a magnetic sound record such as is roduced by the telegraphone. he present invention has for its object to provide a sound record which differs from the above-mentioned sound records in that the record of the sounds is re resented by a coating or deposit of material body, which coating or deposit has a charac teristic that varies at different points thereof in accordance with the variations in the sound vibrations recorded. Such characteristic may be the thickness of the coatin which represents intensity or amplitude 0 sound "ibrations, or may be some other characteristic which represents pitch or quality. The body on which the coating is ap lied may be a cylinder, a disk, a wire, or may ave any other suitable shape or configuration, and may be made of any desired material,

. but will preferably be made ofmetal. The

coating or layer which is applied thereto and which represents thesound vibrations is of a metal having magnetic properties and preferably will be one of the so-called iron oup of metals. A metal like nickel whic has magnetic retentivity and can therefore 00d magnetized, or one like iron which has ployed.

good ma etic permeability may be emuch coating may be applied-to the is a specification, like numerals the intensity of the sound.

applied to a a body in a variety of ways, to apply it or deposit it on the body y the elect-ro-plating process because by using this process the amount of metal-deposited on difierent parts of the body and the manner of depositing it can be readily varied to correspond with variations in the sound vibrations to be recorded merely by varying the current through theelectrosplating bath in accordance with the variations in such sound vibrations.

If the body on which the sound record is made is in the form of a wire, the deposit will be placed on the wire in the form of rings, the number of rings in a definite length of wire corresponding to the number of sound vibrations per unit of time, or, in other words, to the pitch of the sound record and the thickness of the rings corresponding to the am ilitude of the sound vibrations or in the form of a cylinder or plate, the deposit need not be in the form of rings but will have characteristics which vary according to the sound vibrations. When the'sound record is in the form of a body having thereon a coating of magnetizable material, or material with such record may be made into a permanent magnetic sound record by subjecting the coated body to the action of a suificiently strong magnetic field to magnetize the coatin to saturation point, in which case there will be magnetism of diflerent strengths at different points on the body, dependlng on the thickness of the coating at such points, and the soundsthus recorded can be re roduced from such a record by means 0 an ordinary telegraphone-reproducing apparatus. of the coating deposited on the body and representin the sound vibrations, is one having goo magnetic permeability but in capable of being magnetized, the sound vibrations thus recorded can be reproduced by although I refer If the body isgood magnetic retentivity,

passing the body between the poles of a Y ma t, one of which has associated therewith an iron core about which is wound the v a telephone I'GCGIVBI, is thus moved relative to coilsof the circuit of for when the body the ma net, the density of the magnetic flux which vary, depending on the thickness of the coating at difl'erent oints along the body, and the variation in tli ;will cause a sufiicient variation of the curows from one pole to the other will e 'fiow ofthe magnetic flux tion, although I wil rent in the telephone receiver circuit to reproduce the sounds recorded on the body.

While there are a great variety of ways in which my improved record might be made, I have in the drawings illustrated a few ways only, such illustrations when taken in connection with the accompanying description, being suflicient to disclose fully the principle of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a view illustrating the principle of my invention when embodied in a sound record applied to a wire; Fig. 2 is a view showing the principle of my invention when the sound record is applied to a body in the form of a disk, both said Figs. 1 and 2 being more in the nature of diagrams than in the nature of actual illustrations of sound records; Fig. 3 is a plan view of a disk having my sound record applied thereto; Fig. 4 is a diagram view showing an apparatus by which my improved sound record may be fornied on a wire; Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic View showing a difierent method of accomplishing the same end; Fig. (3 is a view showing the operation of permanently magnetizing the wire to form a magnetic sound record; Fig. 7 is a detail of the apparatus shown in Fig. 4; Fig. 8 shows diagrammatically a reproducing apparatus capable of reproducing a sound record when said record is represented by a coating of material having good magnetic permeability.

Referring to Fig. 1, 3 designates the wire or other body on which the sound record is made. The sound record is represented by a coating 4 which is'applied to the body 3 and which varies in thickness at different points in accordance with the sound vibrations. Where the body is a wire, the coating or deposit 4 representing the soundv record will preferably completely encircle the wire.

My improved record mayalso be formed on a disk 5, such as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, in which case the sound record would be in' the nature of a ridge or line of material applied to or deposited on the disk in the form of a spiral, as shown in Fig.3. Fig. 2 illustrates a section through the disk, which section is taken along the length of the line of deposit, said figure being for the purpose of illustrating the varying thickness of the coating or deposit 4. The body 3 or 5 may be of any suitable or usual material, but I will preferably use some non-magnetic material, such as copper, although other materials than copper might be successfully used, and my invention is not limited to the use of any particular substance for the body 3, 5. The material of the coating or deposit 4 may also .be varied without de artingfrom the invenl preferably use either metal capable of being readily deposited by an eloctro-plating process and capable of being magnetized, such, for instance as nickel,

or a metal capable of being readily deposited by an electro-plating process and having good magnetic permeability, such, for instance, as iron. V

In order to'give a better understanding of a sound record embodying my invention,

I will refer briefly to some ways in which such a record may be produced. The apparatus shown in Fig. 4 is similar to an apparatus illustrated in my co-pending application, Serial Number 433,451, filed May 2, 1908, in which I have claimed the method of making sound records. This apparatus comprises an elect'ro-plating bath 9 through which the wire 3 is passed, said wire passing over the direction rolls 10 and 11. The arrangement shown in Fig. 4 is one adapted to deposit nickel or some similar metal on the wire 3, and 12 represents nickel anodes which dip into the electroplating bath 9. These anodesare connected by wire 13 with a battery or other source of electricity 14, and said source of electricity is connected by a wire 15 with. aselenium cell 16, said cell in turn being connected with the roll 10 by a wire 17. The circuit through the bath comprises the wire 13, anodes 12, the wire 3, roll 10, wire 17, selenium cell 16, and wire 15 (which may have a variable resistance 81 therein) back to the source of supply 14.

The selenium cell is situated at the focal point of a condensing lens 18, which lens is arranged to focus on the cell a light which varies in intensity in accordance with the sound vibrations to be recorded. As is well known, the electrical resistance of selenium varies in accordance with the amount of light to which the selenium is subjected, and by varying the amount of light which is thrown on the selenium cell 16, the amount of current which passes through the bath 9 will be varied, and, therefore, a varying amount of nickel will be deposited on the wire 3 as the latter is drawn through said bath.

There are many ways in which the intensity of the light thrown onto the selenium cell 16 may be Varied to correspond with variations in the sound vibrations. The device shown in Fig. 4 makes use of a light of constant intensity, but varies the intensity of the light received by the selenium cell by means of a device known as a photographic wedge or tone chart 19, which is a.

transparent body having a progressively varying transparency from one portion to another. The device herein illustrated is least transparent at the center part and has the greatest transparency at the edges.

Such source of constant illumination is illustrated by 20 and may be an electric light of any suitable construction connected with a battery or source of electricity 21. This light is arranged to direct a beam of light onto a mirror 22 of an oscillograph 23, the

50 the pitch of the tone, andthe thickness of beam of light being focused on the mirror by means of a condensing lens 24- The mirror is situated to reflect the beam of light onto-the tone chart 19. a The oscillograph shownmay haveany suitable or usual con-' struction and herein comprises a magnet 25 between the poles of which extend the two wires26 of a loop in a circuit 27, saidwires passing over the knife edges 28 and having the mirror 22 secured thereto. The circuit 27 has in it the coils 29 of a transformer, the other coils 30 of which are in the circuit 31 of the telephone transmitter 32. When sound vibrations are received, by the trans-.

mitt-er 32, the current in the circuit 31 will be varied in a well known manner, and the variations in this current will, through the transformer, cause similar variations'm the current in the circuit 27. The mirror 22 will be deflected more or less, dependingon the current variations in the circuit..27, and, therefore, the beam of" light reflected from the'mirror 22 will be displaced more-or less on "the tone chart, that depending on the character of the sound vibrations received by the telephone transmitter. The displacing of the beam of light on the tone chart results in changing the amount of light received by the selenium cell because of the varying transparency of the tone chart at different points. It will thus be seen that thecurrent which passes through the bath of the electro-platingapparatus will vary ii. accordance with the variations of the sound vibrations received by the telephone transmitter; and such variations of the current through the electro-pla-ting bath 9 will resalt in depositing more or less metal on the wire 3 as-I have above stated. In order to localize the deposit on the w re 3,1 haveshown protector tubes 33and 34 through which the wire 3 passes and which.

are separated-at 35 at a point within the bath so that the only portion ofthe wire 3 which is subjected to theaction of the bath 9 is thatwithin the space 35. With the de-- vice as herein illustrated the coating will-be placed on the wire in the :formof rings, the

number of rings deposited per unit of time or per unit of length of wire depending on the rings depending upon the intensity of the tone or amplitude of the sound vibrations. I

The device shown in Fig. 4 will produce a sound recordsuch as shown more or less diagrammatically in Fig. 1, that-is, a wire body on which are deposited rings of metal of different thickness, the varying thick-' ness of the ringe representing the variations in the sound vi rations recorded.

In lieu of using the oscillograph and tone chart for varying the amount of light received by the selenium cell, I may employ the speaking are, as shown in Fig. 5. In

this case, the speaking are (which is of usual constructionlis arranged so that a beam of light projected therefrom will be focused on the selenium cell by means of a condensing lens ell. The speaking arc comprises the two carbons 40 connected to a circuit 42 which is supplied with current from a source of :current supply 43, and which may have therein a -choking coil 87 and a variable res1stanc'e'32. 44 is a telephone transmitter, the circuit 45 of which has therein one coil 85 ofa transformer, the other coil 86 0f the transformer being in' a circuit 93 which is so connected with the circuit 42 thatthe cur- P rentv of the circuit 93 will be impressed upon the current in. the circuit 42. i J

The are isniaintained in a luminous condition by'the source of ,electricalsupply 43 and any variations in the current in the circuit 45 causes variations in thecurrent in thecircuit 93 which in turn causes 'a-va iation in the luminosity of-the arc.

If the deposit or "coating on the body 3 or 5 is-iron, such iron coatingmay be deposited by the process .known as acierage -'or steel facing. According to this process, the bath 9 isprepared by using a large sheet of iron 7 for the anode and passing the current through thebath, which is. simply a solu-' t1on of sal a'mmoniac in water.

After the 95 currenthaspassed through the bath for a suitable length of time, the solution becomes charged with iron and if a copper wire 3 .is-- drawn through a bath thus prepared, an iron deposit will beforlned on the wire.

Instead-of using wire for the body, it is possible to use a disk such as shown in Figs. f

2 and '3, in which case, of course, the electroiting nickel 'or' some magnetizable material;

on the wire or other body, therecord may bechangedinto a magnetic record by passing the wire between the poles of a magnet 50, asshown in F ig. 6, which is powerful enough to magnetize the magnetizable coating 4 to saturation point. When this is done, the intensity or degree of magnetism at different points along the wire will-correspond to the thickness of the 'metal coating 4, and, therefore, a permanenfimagnetic record of the sound vibrations will result.

The sounds thus magnetically recorded can be reproduced by means of an ordinary telegraphone reproducing apparatus which it is not necessary to illustrate herein. If, on the other hand, the coating which is ap-' plied to the wire or other body is of iron i which has good magnetic permeability, the;

' 5.4 of a telephone receiver 55. The density fore, as the wire is drawn between the poles,

d a varying current w llbe set up in the c1rof the magnetic flux which flows from one pole to the other depends on the thickness of the iron coating on the wire, and, therecuit 54 which will cause areproduction of the sound vibrations by means of the receiver 5,5.

In the above I have not attempted to illushate all the ways in which a sound record embodying my invention might be made, nor all the forms such a sound record might assume. -,What 'has been shown. and described isfsufiicient, however, to illustrate the principle of the invention which is expressed in the following claims.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A sound-record comprising a body hav ing thereon an-..integral coating or layer of magnetized metal, which coating or layer has a characteristic other than its magnetic characteristic that varies to represent variations in sound vibrations.

2. A sound. record comprising a body having placed thereon an inte ral coating or layer of one of the metals 0 the iron group which varies in thickness at different points to represent variations in sound vibrations.

3. A sound record comprising a body having deposlted thereon so as to be in intimate and permanent contact therewith a layer.

or coating of one of the. metals of the iron group, which layer or coating varies in thickness to represent variations in sound Vlblfl tions. i

. l. A sound record comprising an integral layer or coating of magnetized metal, which tions in the sound vibrations recorded. 6; A sound record comprising a body having deposited thereon by electric action a coating or layer of one of the metals of the iron group, which layer or coating varies in thickness at different points to represent variations in sound vibrations.

7. A-sound record com rising a body of non-magnetizable'materia having de osited thereon an integral coating or layer 0 metal which varies'in thickness at difierent points to represent variations in sound vibrations.

S. A sound record com rising a bodyof non-magnetic material having de 'osited thereon, by electric action an integral coating of metal which varies in thickness at sound vibrations.

9. A sound record comprisin abody having deposited thereon by the e ectro-platin process an integral coating or layer 0 meta having magnetic propertles, which coating I I or layer varies in thickness'at different points to represent variations in sound vibrations; 10.. A sound record comprising a body having thereon an integral coating or layer to represent variations in the sound vibrations of which the layer constitutes a record: 12. A sound record comprising a body having deposited thereon a coating or ,layer of metal magnetized to saturation point, which layer or coating varies in thickness at different pointsto represent variations in sound vibrations.

13. A sound record comprising a wire having a cross-wire corrugated magnetic face with the difierent corrugations'varying in size to correspond to variations in the sound vibrations recorded.

In testimony whereof, I have signedmy name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. PERCYTV. FULLER.

- \Vitnesses:

LOUIS C. b n'rn, THOMAS J. DRUMMOND.

-layer or Y co'atin g Has a non-magnetic char-' acteristic that varies to represent the var1a-.

rent points to represent variations in of metal, having magnetic properties, WhlCll etic characteristic to represent.

which varies .in thickness at difi'e'rent points- 

